reusing agarose gels

[Lauri Lintott]

> 
> In article <2tk8sp$asl at charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>,
> dsammata at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Diana Sammataro) wrote:
> > 
> 
> <stuff deleted>
> > 
> >      1.Can I reuse agarose gels, and what happens to DNA and EB in the
> >      gels.
> Yes, just melt it down (+ wee bit of water) and recast it. Both are still
> there. The next time round, you will not need to stain the gel as the EB is
> still there. Boiling denatures DNA and ssDNA doesn't fluoresce as much with
> EB. Still, the background rises with increasing recycling (some bits of
> dirt will also fluoresce...). I've done 4-5x recycling out of sheer sloth
> before...
> 
> DO NOT USE RECYCLED GELS FOR SOUTHERN BLOTTING!!!!!
> 
> 
I was always told that boiling ETBr is a bad idea as it can
vaporize and be inhaled, and since it is a mutagen/carinogen this
would not be a good thing.  Does someone know better?

Lauri Lintott
Bio. Sci. U of Calgary